350Butcher

Hope you're having your geometry all setup Saturday PM? I'm booked on Anglesey Monday 29th May and can't wait.........just need to build an engine and I'm good to go!

No problem Will be getting the car setup on the dyno, start of May all being well. Hopefully the car will still be making power up to 8k rpm but it may hit a brick wall with the intake so not sure on that. Gains wise 30+ is possible but it's a shot in the dark, the cams are good for at least 10hp the manifolds over decats the same and the heads are an unknown as I couldn't find anyone who's done it before on the HR so we will have to wait and see. I'm really looking forward to finding out

These are the gaskets you need I did take a "before" vid of start up and idle to compare with the "after" so I'll post up when it's all done and of course I'll post new dyno sheet from same dyno too so will be interesting. Not sure it'll tell the full story of how it drives and goes but will be interesting to see!

I ordered mine with the parallel merge collectors which add a bit more $$. Paul at PPE was a really top guy to deal with had them made and shipped on time no problem so if you did want them then I'd recommend going direct to them and definitely get those gaskets sorted out!! Not sure they were the uprated ones, very flimsy paper and new ones feel much stiffer reinforced but either way its having new ones

Honestly on a completely standard engine I don't think its worth doing the PPE's at all as a single mod over what you're gonna get from just decats, they produce their power at higher revs and with the rest left stock these engines fall on their face at 6500-6800rpm so you're not going to be in the area of the rev range where the PPE's will make the difference. Lifted from a post Mark@Abbey made regarding UpRev stages: "Stage 3 With Berks De-cats These car with the stage 3 conversion see nearly 290 hub bhp up from around 265/270bhp for a stock car" and here's my dyno sheet from when I first got this car then fitted with K&N drop in filters and Motordyne ART (decat) pipes. Before UpRev 279HP, showing 9-14HP gain over stock figure from Abbey (from decats). After UpRev 293HP so a further 14HP gain, making total over stock of 23-28HP matching the 26+HP gain that PPE claim in this link http://www.ppeengine...nissan/350Z.php

Just a little update while I wait for the heads to come back The final drive is all swapped out with complete new bearing, seals etc and all tightened to correct bearing preloads (not the work of a second), luckily no reshimming was required, the mesh pattern, backlash etc were all in tolerance. Now just waiting to seal up the pumpkin again, fill with oil and get the diff mounted in the car. Fuel pump has been located and replaced with Walbro 255 pump. Not exactly a straight swap, wiring plugs straight in but the pump itself is slightly longer meaning you have to faf with the bottom mounting clip to locate again and keep it securely mounted in place. Also carried out mods to the swirl jet and factory regulator orifices as documented here host.cj-motorsports.com/pdf/350z%20Fuel%20Pump.pdf Installed the billett oil pump gears. Really nice work from Boundary Pumps in the states. Straight swap 10min job (when the engine is apart that is) This mod really was a just in case thing, for the sake of a couple of hundred quid I'm adding reliability and strength to protect thousands of £'s worth of engine so a no brainer. The factory gears do actually look pretty good but I don't wanna find out their limits myself http://www.boundarypumps.com/nissan/ Thought I'd make a start wrapping the manifolds, I've used DEI titanium wrap and am using Goodridge 1mm lockwire to hold it all together. I didn't have much left from a 2"x50' roll so only have one done for now! This job was a pig, its not difficult just a pig, takes patients and hours to slowly work round and then securing it all after but I'm happy with the result and not looking forward to doing the other one! And that is all, other than the horrible but very important task of cleaning off all the tons of silicone sealant that hold this engine timing covers and sump on ready for reassembling it all with tons of fresh silicone sealant!! One thing I was happy to see was after all the pics and horror stories about the oil gallery gaskets that seem to trouble the vq35hr engine mine were in perfect condition after 8 years and 28k miles.................they're being replaced with the new reinforced gaskets.

I think the manifolds will give the single most gain, the problem with doing any sort of modifying is you just move to the next weakest link, or restriction as is the case with the n/a route. So unless you're ready to do a few more bits then you might feel the price doesn't warrant the cost, that said if PPE's claims of 20bhp gain on a stock engine are true then they are a bargain and everyone should buy a set. The other thing to note is the PPE's did not fit with the heads in place! They may fit with the cross member out but I cant confirm that......just so you're aware

Went with Tomei cams over the JWT as there was just a bit more info around on them to be honest, they both seemed to offer the same but as I felt I knew more what I was gonna get with the Tomei I went for them. Yep very happy with the diff, not actually driven on the 3.9FD yet but I'm sure I'll be pleased, on track more than long drives across France/ Germany I suspect but its not a bad trade off. The final drive in your link is the same OEM nissan part as I used. As Rob has said with NA tuning its all about the intake / heads and exhausts we don't have a turbo to drive in and drive out 100bhp up so porting work in the case of the HR is about shaping the ports to allow better flow the more air/fuel in more exhaust out the higher the revs the more power! It might only gain 2-3bhp/cylinder but x6 that 12-18bhp and while its in bits I'm having those!! Billett oil pump gears were just for safety/reliability really, they are a lot stronger than the standard pump gears and theres a few pics of std gears in bit when revving towards 8k rpm so I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be posting a pic up like that myself. Fueling mods are just that, I think I'll be on the limit of the standard fuel pump and injectors so they are being upped to deal with it. Walbro's are proven as are a set of injectors from the mighty GTR

Think I have spaghetti arms too so we're all good! Suppose my point is with that kind of budget there's is some of the very best stuff available, if I see a set of either that I've mentioned behind your wheels in a build thread somewhere I will be very jealous The PF set up is definitely rarer on street/ track day cars but they are big in motorsport you're also tied to PF for the only pads you can use that I'm sure puts off a few but that is like saying you're stuck with only Megan Fox to sleep with so I'm ok with that and I nearly ordered a set of these as a result But the alcons are the choice for BMW Csl Cup brakes Noble's new 650bhp M600 So proper proven stuff! And to go back to the original topic I think spending a £1000 on upgrading pads/discs etc with the use of standard Brembos is good enough for most fast road/track work and probably up to taking on most basic BBK available and if you do need something really up to the job then you need to be saving up and going for this level of stuff to really notice huge benefits and take it to the next level.

This is just my opinion and I'd just urge you to maybe do a bit more looking into it before parting that kind of money, but these are the fronts from Alcon, they maybe bit cheaper else where but these came up: http://www.rosssport.com/Brands/ALCON-BRAKES-COMPONENTS/ALCON-KITS-COMPONENTS-NISSAN/ALCON-ADVANTAGE-EXTREME-KITS-NISSAN/ALCON-AdEX-FT-365x32mm-6P-NISSAN-350Z-ALCF97ZG02-03F7E +£250 for some proper pads as the DS's they come with are no good for track work unless you're not tracking it, leaving you a couple of hundred quid left to sort some rear pads/discs. This set up hurts it brakes so hard, I promise you! (and I had 343mm discs on my Evo, this is a 365mm kit) PS.. if that really is the size of your arms, then you my friend are right and you can do whatever you want!!

What have you priced up there? Don't make the mistake of more pistons is always better either if you're referring to the ZR31 caliper

Brakes seem to be a hot topic at the moment! The 350's brembos are very good they are just in need of a proper set of pads, braided hoses and fluid that can cope. I've been regularly tracking a Zed for last 5 years and brakes are not a problem at all. Do a search and you'll find all the advice you need just make sure you pick through and find who's talking from experience and worth listening too. Nearly £4k on these!! You'll get change going for Alcon advantage kit (which I've owned on my Evo) or Performance Friction ZR31 kits both monobloc calipers and proper proper motorsport stuff that will tear your eyes out your head.

Do you mean JWT? C1HR cams? Went for the Tomei's as I like the specs to give me the results I'm after while still remaining acceptable for normal use and not pushing all the power to the very top end at the expense of a solid midrange. There's also the huge plus that they are as wild as you can go with keeping the factory pistons. I kept toying with the 3.9FD and probably should have done it before but the reason I went for it now is after this round of work the engine should be making good power all the way to 7500rpm maybe higher which meant I'd be hanging onto the already very long gears for even longer so it was a no brainer to swap it as part of this lot so it pulls through the gears easier and makes the new top end power more accessible. Re the standard clutch/flywheel setup, bin it asap it weighs a ton and definitely revs freer once replaced for lighter single mass setup. I went for the Xtreme kit through http://clarkmotorsport.co.uk/ which comes as full kit which also replaces the troublesome slave cylinder. I'd recommend it but probably would have gone for an even lighter flywheel to be honest but its a nice kit and so far handling fast road and track fine. Diff wise I went with the os giken superlock, its a great bit of kit and I couldn't find a bad word on it when I did my homework and for good reason! I did spec mine myself as I didn't want any lock up on deceleration to help with better turn in but the drive out the corners is far better than stock VLSD, no inside wheel spinning at all and no grabby lock up either just clean tidy traction all the way and totally consistent unlike stock too............if you want to stab the throttle and get it locked up and a smoky over steer exit its happy to oblige too!

They are pricey but right for this level of pads, I've wasted £00's on pads that came highly rated only to be used for 5 mins on a track and then thrown away. I've got no experience with CL pads, whats the modulation and pedal feel like with those? As this is another area that I've always really rated the Pagids If you wanted to try anything Pagid or Performance Friction give Alyn a call at http://asptrading.co.uk/ I think (and say if I'm wrong Rob) the point about re bedding in pads is that if its doing a load of low speed daily commute type driving pads like these can glaze up so taking it for a quick blast and carrying out a few big stops say 80-20 a couple of times gets them back to their best again. Also the point regarding the DS2500 pads is exactly what I found too, they just can't take the heat of track work and fall off very quickly and I even had material transfer on to my discs with them which gave me the worst vibration under braking I've ever had so best to stay away from these unless road use only

I was just trying to write something along the same lines but you put it better than I could. This post was started because of a trader with little knowledge and a lot to sell.

This, but I'd take Pagid RS29 pads and PF Floating discs if budget allows RS29s are hardly everyday pads! lol not sure they're even road legal anyway. Hardcore track-use territory those... I've driven on RS29's for must be 10 years and they are great from cold and handle all the track work you can throw at them, they aren't too aggressive to discs and out last most others too which goes a huge way to justifying their price tag in my opinion, don't even have bad manners in terms of noise either. The one and only down side I find is that the dust they produce does need to be cleaned off wheels fairly quickly and that's about it. I think I'm right in saying proper Porsche's come with these fitted so as for legality I'm sure they are good too

And EBC I wouldn't fit to my mountain bike

This, but I'd take Pagid RS29 pads and PF Floating discs if budget allows

Cheers guys, I'll give them a call

It's the bearing pre load I really want checked on the new pinion I've installed and I don't have the gear for? This is a specialist job as it needs to be set to a very tight and strict tolerance. The shims and the rest I can do really but would leave to someone else to double check if I found someone good. Did you know of anyone?

Not sure this is the right section but...... I've put my diff back together with new bearing etc and I am after a transmission expert/specialist near Warwick if anyone can recommend someone/somewhere? They need to be properly up on measuring bearing preloads in in-lbs and checking clearances and kitted out to reshim if necessary. Cheers

Just to echo Jeff, the harnesses run straight out the back of the seat so no probs anyway and when pulled tight are spot on. I spoke with the guy from GCF when I ordered and I think this bar went through a few versions to get it right and this being the latest addressed any previous issues/concerns. So think a lot of the stuff on forums is bit out of date (always good to do homework on stuff though)

Really can't wait to take it out again, be quite a different car I think addressing a few of the areas I thought let it down a bit My back and knees (that now bend the wrong way) can confirm how low and far back the engine sits!

Hope seller doesn't mind but thought this may help with sale, I have this exact same bar fitted to my car with harnesses attached and there no problems at all.

Cheers!! They should perform as good as they look too. Cant wait to get it all together again and go for a drive